Tea plantation workers continue agitation

As the strike by women tea plantation workers here entered the eighth day today, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the government cannot turn a "blind eye" to the genuine demands raised by them.
Chandy said talks would be held in Kochi tomorrow to end the strike by workers of the Kannan Devan Hills Plantation (KDHP) company here, the first ever employee-owned plantation company in the country.
The unprecedented strike, which has no support of any political party or trade union leaders, has sent jitters to the tourism industry as the peak season is about to begin next month. Munnar is a popular destination visited by holidayers both domestic and international.

CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan addressed the workers today and said the party would support the strike and if there was no solution at tomorrow's meeting, the party would take it up at the state level.
"We will stand with you and we will support you," he told workers who have so far kept politicians and trade union leaders at bay.
CPI(M)'s Devikulam, MLA, S Rajendran, who was booed out by the workers yesterday, launched a hunger strike a few yards away from the spot where the women workers are agitating.

The women agitators continued their ire against him by raising slogans against the MLA and said his strike was a "drama".

Though Marxist MP P K Sreemathi and MLA K K Shailaja and party Central Committee member M C Josephine tried to join the agitators in the sit-in, they were also prevented from doing so.
Veteran CPI(M) leader and state Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan is likely to visit the women, who are on strike, tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said this was a labours' agitation and accused the CPI-M of trying to take political advantage while the government was trying to find a solution.
The agitators said they would not withdraw their strike till their demand for 20 per cent bonus and Rs 500 daily wages was accepted by the company management.

"There is only one person working and there are five members in the family who depend on this pittance of a salary for a survival," an agitator said.
The agitators continued to block all roads in hill town of Munnar.